[FIXED] How to set pipefail in a Makefile

Issue

Consider this Makfile:

all: 
    test 1 -eq 2 | cat
    echo 'done'

It will be executed with no error.

I've heard of set -o pipefail that I may use like this:

all: 
    set -o pipefail;     \
    test 1 -eq 2 | cat;  \
    echo 'done'

Apart that it does not work, this writing is very painful.

Another solution would be to use temporary files. I would like to avoid it.

What other solution can I use?

Solution

For anything more complicated than single commands I generally prefer using a script. That way you control the interpreter completely (via the shebang line), and you can put more complicated commands together rather than trying to shoe-horn it into effectively a single line. For example:

Makefile:

all:
    ./my.sh

my.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -o errexit -o pipefail
test 1 -eq 2 | cat
echo 'done'

That said, the exit code of a Makefile command block like the one you have is the exit code of the last command since you separate the commands with ;. You can use && to execute only until you get an error (equivalent to errexit), like this:

set -o pipefail && test 1 -eq 2 | cat && echo 'done'

Answered By - l0b0

Answer Checked By - Gilberto Lyons (PHPFixing Admin)